Her Cross to Bear
by Kate-the-Great-228
Summary: One-Shot Ally starts having nightmares. Can Austin help? Sorry for errors


For as long as she could remember Ally Dawson had been a dreamer. When she was a little girl she would have in depth fantasies about meeting the mother she never knew. When she grew older and discovered music the fantasy changed into her being alone on a stage belting out a ballad that she had written herself. After the incident which caused her stage fright occurred, Ally would dream about being a songwriter, the catalyst of someone else's career. And now when she dreams Ms. Dawson's mind is filled with thoughts of a blonde haired boy.

Yes, Ally had always been a dreamer. But it wasn't until recently that she began having nightmares. It was as if every bad moment she every lived through, every insult she ever heard, every slight pain would come back and haunt her every night. She would awake screaming, and crying and would eventually spend the rest of the night in a terrified state. The only one she confided in about the situation was her book, and an inanimate object isn't much of a help. It got to the point where she was afraid to fall asleep, not wanting to revisit the fears that she held so deep in her heart.

So, when she fell asleep at work there wasn't a difference. It's not as if she meant to fall asleep, but a person can only run on adrenaline for so long. She was soon faced with the fears that she saw at night. She cried, kicked and screamed but she seemed trapped within her nightmare. And then a miracle happened. Ally woke up in the arms of a blonde haired singer.

"Austin? W-what happened?" she asked. Austin was holding the girl close to his chest and tears she didn't knew she shed rolled down her face.

"Thank god you okay! I walked into the store and you were screaming like crazy! I tried to wake you up but then you started punching and kicking so I grabbed you and..well..yeah."

Ally sighed, "Yeah I've been having trouble sleeping lately."

"Come on Ally its more than that. To be honest you've been walking around looking like death."

"Okay. Well…yeah. I've had some nightmares. Big deal? Everyone does. I'm sure they'll pass and I'll be back to myself in no time."

"Do you wanna talk about it? Maybe it could help?"

"No. Thanks though. I'm going to meet up with Trish for lunch. I'll see you later okay?" she said as she began to exit the store.

One of the things Austin admired most about Ally was her willingness to bear her crosses in silence. She never complained about the long hours of working in the store. She never cried-or for that matter ever talked- about the mother she never knew. But Austin also wished that she would just this once let him in. That if only for a moment she would allow him to take some of the heavy load which was so unfairly placed on her small shoulders. And in that moment, Austin saw that this was his chance to do that very thing.

"Ally" he called as the brunette was in the doorway, "how bout we pull an all nighter and write a song tonight? We haven't done that in awhile."

Ally smiled, "Sure Austin that sounds great. I'll meet you here when the store closes okay?"

He nodded and she walked off. Maybe it was a bad idea. Maybe it was better to let her face her demons by herself. But all Austin Moon knew was that either way he was going to try to help Ally, even if she didn't want him to.

Xxxxxxx

As expected the pair met in the practice room as soon as the open sign was flipped to close. For a few hours they talked melodies and harmonies, lyrics and rhymes, and soon enough they had another hit on their hands.

"Honestly I don't know how you do it Als." Austin said, looking down to the girl at his side.

"Yeah," Ally said, her sentence interrupted by a yawn, "right back at you."

"Maybe you should lie down for a bit? Get some rest?"

"Austin you know I can't. Its not that I don't want to but I-I can't" she said, tears dangerously close to escaping from her eyes.

"Hey," Austin said putting an arm around her shoulder, "I'll be right here okay? Nothing bad is going to get you while I'm around. So just close your eyes and sleep."

She nodded into his shoulder, "Sleep."

"Sleep," Austin said again soothing her into rest, "Just close your eyes and sleep."

Ally fell asleep right there on the bench. Austin picked her up and carried her to the coach, shocked at how light she actually was. He threw a blanket from the closet on her and whispered, "Sweet dreams."

He too soon fell asleep on the ground right beside the sofa.

Xxxxxx

The next morning Ally was awoken by something she wasn't expecting: silence. There was no crying, screaming, or kicking. She could not recall when she fell asleep, but she knew that her nightmares had not come to her last night. She surveyed the area around he and spotted Austin silently sleeping at the foot of her sofa.

"Austin!" she said kicking his back with her bare foot, "Wake up!"

"Huh?" he said shooting up, clearly not sure where he was. "Oh hey! How'd you sleep!"

"Great" Ally replied, getting off the sofa and helping him up, "Really great. Like the best night sleep I've had in months! I think my nightmares are gone!"

"That's awesome Als! I'm really happy for yeah."

"Well it's all thanks to you." she said, going on her tip toes so her lips could reach his cheek, " Well I'm going to go home and shower. See you later?"

"Yeah I'll see you later." he said and she left, his hand reaching up to touch the spot she kissed on his cheek in spite of himself, a smirk forming on his face.

Form that day on Ally no longer suffered from nightmares. She was back to dreaming about moms, music, and blonde hair musicians. And Austin found that carrying a cross for Ally Dawson wasn't bad at all. In fact, it was kind of great.

**A/N: Hey its been awhile! I'd like to thank everyone who has reviewed by other story. "A Rose that Won't Bloom". I love that some of you read it since I finished. Anyway this is just a One-shot that has been in my mind recently. I'm not sure if I like it. Oh well. Thanks for reading!**


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